From Shadows
by Elizabeth Kururugi
Summary: What happened between the time the Enforcers were together and when Jack and Yusei dueled in New Domino City? A series of fun little one-shots capture the moments they had in between. How did the Enforcers pass the time on their down days? How did Jack and Yusei end up living in the subway with Rally, Nervin, Tank, and Blitz? I'll figure it out along with you. OC, some OCxYusei
1. Burn Baby Burn! Disco Inferno?

From Shadows Chapter 1

"Ugh," Crow groaned, lounging on the couch.

Yusei, Jack and Lise ignored him. Yusei was trying to get his duel disk back up and running. Jack was rocking back and forth on two legs of his chair, trying to keep himself awake. Lise was drawing on the nearest wall with a pencil.

"Ugh," Crow said louder, dragging himself off the couch.

Nobody made any indications to show they had heard him.

"UGH!" Crow practically shouted right next to Yusei's work table.

"What's wrong, Crow?" Yusei sighed. He didn't look up from his work.

"I'm bored! When is Kalin gonna get here?"

"He did say he'd be late, mate," Jack reminded him. He yawned and scratched at the back of his head. "If you want, we can duel to pass the time."

"Not right now. It's too hot to duel, much less move, and I'm bored…" Crow complained in a whiny voice.

"Do you wanna help me paint the wall?" Lise suggested. She put her pencil down and reached for her paintbrushes. "You could put up a red wash first."

"What's a wash?" Crow asked, perking up a bit.

"It's mostly a layer of paint with water as a background."

"No way," Crow groaned and sunk back down to the floor. "That involves moving."

Lise shrugged and went into their pathetically tiny kitchen to grab as much water as she could from the dripping pipes with her bucket. "It's all well and good now, but I can't do anything till I get more water for my paints. We've got time."

"Wait!" Crow sat straight up like he'd been struck with something. "I got it!" He jumped up and ran into the kitchen.

Lise, Yusei and Jack exchanged looks of surprise and uncertainty.

"Should we be concerned?" Yusei finally broke the silence.

"I don't know…" Jack said awkwardly.

"Let's burn things!" Crow announced, coming back in with a pack of matches.

"The fuck did you get those?!" Lise cried, torn between pyromania and the fear of destroying something.

"Kitchen," Crow shrugged. "What should we burn?" He reached for some stray papers on Yusei's work table.

"No! You can't burn those!" Yusei yanked them out of Crow's way.

"Well I can't burn Lise'sksetchbook."

"You're damn right you can't!" Lise screeched, pulling her drawings away from him.

"We could burn the table," Jack suggested.

"You're actually considering it!"

"I'm bored too."

"We can't burn the table!"

"Then do we have some old newspapers nearby? I know you saved a few to put underneath your paintings, Lise."

"Oh yeah, you could burn those," Lise agreed, glad that her work was safe.

"Not you too!" Yusei's mouth dropped open. "Look, we can't burn the table, my papers, or Lise's drawings."

"He's right," Crow sighed. "Never mind…" He pouted and turned to go put the matches back.

"Wait, we can still burn things," Lise said, completely serious. "But we've gotta do it right."

"Uh…there's a right way to burn things?"

Lise nodded. She pointed to Crow. "You get as much paper and dry wood as you can that isn't Yusei's table."

"O…kay."

"Now!"

"Right," Crow pocketed the matches and sped off.

"Um, what about when Kalin gets here?" Jack pointed out.

"He can join us," Lise said passively, waving away his concern.

"Join us in what?"

"You'll see. Yusei and Jack, do you guys know what we can use as sticks?"

"Sticks?" Yusei raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "Are you nuts?"

"And bolts. Can you guys get something that can be used as sticks? Preferably five?"

"Like a wire hangar?" Jack suggested, getting excited. He stood up. "Yeah, we can do that! Let's go!"

"This is so insane," Yusei commented, but he followed Jack. "Hang on," he paused. "What're you going to do?"

"You'll see," Lise winked and strolled down the stairs of their hideout.

/

"Okay," Yusei announced upon their return. "We got what we could, but what're we going to do with all this stuff?"

Lise didn't answer him. She was trying to get the wood and paper Crow had collected to ignite right outside their hideout door.

"Wow, you actually did a good job, Crow," Jack nodded approvingly.

"Don't act so surprised," Crow glared at him and groaned. "I don't know what she's doing. She brought that bag of stuff over there." He pointed to a small blue cloth bag by Lise's foot. "But she won't tell me what's in it."

"It better be good. It's getting dark out," Yusei set the sticks down and sat cross-legged by Lise.

"Yes!" she exclaimed as the papers lit up and caught the wood on fire.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm so late. I got caught up in planning our next gang f- what're you doing?"

Lise picked up a stick and reached into her bag. She put something white on the end and held it out over the fire. "Roasting marshmallows."

"Sweet! Throw me a marshmallow!" Kalin settled down by Yusei and attached the food Lise tossed him to his own stick. "What a great idea. I should leave you guys alone more often."

"Well, Crow did want to burn something," Yusei said, laughing nervously.

"This way we can constructively burn something," Jack smiled.

"No way man," Crow put his marshmallow directly into the flames. "My marshmallow's burning in hell!"

"Dude, that's marshmallow abuse!"

Lise laughed. "It doesn't matter how you want to roast it. I have graham crackers and chocolate too."

"S'mores! Lise, you're brilliant!" Crow grinned jubilantly. He pulled out his burning marshmallow and blew on it until the flames died out. "All right now for the s'more part!"

"It's fucking black!" Jack pointed at the marshmallow dramatically.

"You're really going to eat that?" Yusei curled his lip in disgust.

"I know I said it doesn't matter, but that looks cancerous," Lise remarked, watching Crow mash the marshmallow between the graham crackers and chocolate. "Martha was on board with the s'mores, but I think she'd change her mind if she saw what you were doing to the marshmallows."

Kalin chuckled and lit his marshmallow on fire. "Aw, just let him eat it the way he likes. We'll have to thank Martha the next time we see her."

"Absolutely," Yusei agreed. He finished putting his s'more together and bit into it. "Holy shit this is good. Why haven't we done this before?"

"We didn't have all this stuff before. Martha snagged it at the market," Lise explained. "All the leftovers will go to the kids at her orphanage."

"Great idea," Crow said with his mouth full, putting one sticky thumb up.


	2. Our Poor Open Hands

"Okay, so the plans for our next gang duel are um…coming together slowly," Kalin greeted the others when he breezed into their hangout.

"So, basically, you don't have a plan?" Lise supplied helpfully, not looking up from the yellow wash she was spreading across the wall.

Kalin narrowed his eyes at Lise and settled down in the chair next to Yusei's. "I have a plan. It uh, it just um, it isn't, well Yusei is still working on fixing my duel disk. It isn't fixed yet is it?"

"No," Yusei agreed, saving Kalin's argument.

"Whatever," Lise rolled her eyes. Her biggest brush passed over the wall for a second coat.

"Hey, can we learn how to use weapons now?" Jack asked, his blond head popping up over the edge of their ratty sofa.

"Oh, good idea!" Crow's head joined Jack's at the top of the couch.

"I didn't bring any of my weapons, guys," Lise said.

"Aw, but we're bored!" Kalin jumped on the bandwagon like he was out at sea in a rowboat with no oars.

Lise groaned and set her paintbrush down. "I got the wash done, but it needs to dry. What do you suggest since Kalin doesn't have a plan, and I don't actually have any weapons on me?"

"Don't you have your fans strapped to your legs?" Yusei pointed out. "I wouldn't mind learning how to use those."

"Would you get a weaponized fan for yourself?" Lise asked, eyebrow raised.

"Um…no?"

"Then no. Hmmm," Lise gave it some thought.

"What rank are we at now? I think it was blue belt, right?"

"You sure, Crow?" Jack said.

"Yeah, everything is in sets and belts, and there are in between stuff according to Lise's ranking system." He continued to speak as the others stared at him with increasingly wide eyes. "Per rank there are three kicks, four form basics, one form, and-"

"Okay, wow, you really are pretty far along," Lise smiled with pride. "You gave me an idea. I should have done this ages ago. Let's go to the training ground."

"This is so much better than coming up with a plan," Kalin mumbled, relieved. The four of them followed Lise out to their normal training ground.

"Yeah, but now you're not in charge for the whole day," Jack pointed out in a low voice.

"Shut up, Jack," Kalin growled.

"If you two are done being idiots, then we can get started. We'll work on open hand defenses. Who wants to be the dummy? I mean guinea pig?"

"Why does she look super happy to be doing this?" Crow whispered out of the corner of his mouth nervously.

"Might as well get it over with," Yusei sighed. He stepped out and waited patiently

"Perfect," Lise smiled brightly. "Gloves off everybody or you won't be able to tell what I'm doing and it's really fun if you do it right," she added as she tucked her gloves into her jeans pocket.

"So what're these called again?" Crow asked eagerly as they took off their gloves too.

"Locks. It's basically using the way your bones connect your body together against it. If Yusei punches like so…" she waited until Yusei leveled a less than menacing punch by her nose. "You obviously block it. Outside or inside, doesn't really matter. I prefer outside for this one," Lise's hands were raised in knife hands at the outside of Yusei's wrist. "And now that you're here, you turn his hand over, break open his fist, put your thumbs on the back of his hand, push with your thumbs, and pull his hand towards you at the same time."

"Ow, ow, ow!" Yusei exclaimed after only a few seconds, his wrist aching. Lise released him immediately so he could wave his free hand to get the feeling back.

"That's called wrist lock," Lise said. She held out her own hand. "Again or someone else?"

"Um, I'll step out," Yusei said.

"Demo on me then," Crow stepped in front of Yusei. "That way I know what it feels like and Yusei can see what it's supposed to look like."

"Good idea," Lise nodded. "Okay, same thing, but here are a few things not to do before I turn you loose." She got into the same position and started pushing her hands towards Crow. "What's wrong with this?"

"Uh, it doesn't hurt?" Crow scratched his head with his free hand.

"Oh, you're not doing it right," Jack grinned cockily.

"Duh, Jack, that's the whole point," Lise rolled her eyes. She pulled her hands back and slowly continued correctly. "When you do this you're pushing against the wrist. It's called wrist lock for a reason. Your wrist doesn't bend inward very well so it hurts to bend it like that, but if I push my hands towards my opponent, it won't bend the way I want it too. Plus," Lise stepped back a step, forcing Crow to crouch or be in serious pain. "I use the lock to be in control of him. Crow is the one on the ground, and I'm the one holding him there up here. Now I can do whatever I want, but I won't." She smiled and dropped Crow's hand to his extreme relief. "Do you want to practice that now or one more before we practice?"

"One more," Kalin spoke immediately, holding out his right hand in what would have been a well-aimed punch.

"Okay then. Same thing as before, but this is a slightly different lock. It's called center lock. I position my thumbs sideways on top of each other right by his wrist, and then my hands on top of each other on the other side of his wrist. This doesn't work if you're on his hand. Back to the wrist, and instead of pulling or pushing it's more of a twist. Know how you're arm doesn't bend this way? Well, we're gonna bend it that way," Lise grinned and pulled Kalin's arm to her left, his right, until he used his free hand to urgently tap Lise's arm.

"That was really intense," Kalin breathed, massaging his wrist.

"Just wait till we get to finger locks. Okay, go slow because your partner probably likes his body in one piece. Be nice to your partner, and let me know if you have any questions."

Crow and Yusei paired up. That left Kalin with Jack. Lise hovered by Jack and Kalin first since Jack didn't get the chance to be a guinea pig.

"Um, am I doing this right?" Jack finally said after a few minutes.

"For the most part yeah. Use your thumbs to put more pressure on his wrist. Use the fact that you're tall against your opponent by bringing his hand closer to you as well as up a little bit."

"Thanks," Jack smiled at Kalin evilly.

"Great," Kalin scowled. "Are you trying to get him to kill me more efficiently?"

Lise raised an eyebrow, smiling craftily. "You get to get him in a lock right afterwards."

"Oh, that's right."

"Try not to kill each other," Lise laughed. She went over to see how Yusei and Crow were doing. They did fine on the wrist lock, but were having trouble with center lock.

"Does this hurt now?"

"No," Crow sighed.

"Now?"

"No."

"Really? I don't get what I'm doing wrong," Yusei frowned, bringing Crow's wrist back up to check the position of his fingers.

"Don't lace them together like that," Lise said, stepping in and repositioning his fingers. "It should look kind of like you're eating a sandwich, but it isn't a sandwich it's Crow's hand."

Yusei smiled, showing teeth for a brief moment. "Okay, and then I twist his arm a little bit while I move it over?"

"Oh god, holy shit, I'm going down!" Crow wailed, as Yusei moved a little too quickly, knocking him to the ground.

"Sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but go slower next time. Geez," Crow complained as he stood up.

"I said not to break your partner, but good. You have center throw takedown already," Lise's good mood dissolved as Jack and Kalin erupted into an argument. She sighed. "Give Crow a shot at a bit of payback, and I'll break those two up before we move on."

"Excellent," Crow grinned. They proceeded well, whilst ignoring the yelling of their three friends. The five of them joined back up after Yusei and Crow had finished.

"Next is finger locks. Jack?" Lise smiled venomously.

He grumbled under his breath and handed her a fist to work with.

"Thanks," She turned his fist and opened it. "See where all the lines are in his fingers? They mark the joints that connect all your bones. Sure, you can grab the joints near the tips of his fingers and bend them at weird angles. It's not as effect as grabbing at the root of the joints, and bending them back with very little effort. You can do this with one finger, two, three, and four. With the thumb, you take your own thumb, put it on top of your opponents, and then your fingers underneath, and curl the thumb back theoretically as hard as you can. Quick pointer though," Lise held two of Jack's fingers by the joint above her head. "This is a bad idea because Jack is taller than me, and I give him more control by keeping his fingers away from me. I can still raise them," she lowered her hand significantly but pulled Jack's fingers closer to her. "But it's always better to pull the limb you are trying to control closer to you, and step back because then you have more control of your opponent."

"Uh, I think Jack is losing feeling in his fingers," Yusei pointed out.

"Sorry Jack," Lise dropped his hand. "You should tap if it hurts. There's no sense in learning this stuff if you don't have your fingers at the end of it. I forgot that part. Say tap, tap your partner, or tap your own leg if they get to a point where it hurts too much to continue."

"Got it," Crow replied cheerfully. "Same partners?"

"Actually Crow, could you pair with Jack this time? He and Kalin didn't exactly see eye to eye last time."

"Sure," Crow shrugged and the boys shuffled partners.

Lise watched Yusei and Kalin trade off finger locks. She thought she'd have to correct the thumb lock, but they actually fixed themselves. She couldn't help but smile with pride. Crow and Jack were doing just fine until they made it to the thumb lock.

"Jack come one! Just open up your hand!"

"You're supposed to do it yourself! If you can," Jack taunted. Clearly it just wasn't his day.

"What's wrong?" Lise asked, walking up to them. She too in Jack's smirk, tightly closed fist, Crow's red face, and crossed arms.

"Jack is being a butthead, and won't let me try the thumb lock."

"You're supposed to open up my fist first."

"I'm trying to get the thumb lock thing right in the first place!"

"Hang on, Crow, you can still learn something. Yusei, Kalin, do you wanna see an alternative thumb lock?"

Yusei looked to Kalin, who shrugged. "Why not?"

"Uh…" Jack was at a loss as to what to do about the four people watching him.

"Stay exactly like that, Jack," Lise said as she flipped his fist over. "This is for especially uncooperative partners. See how he has a great fist that he won't open to help his partner get better?"

Jack grunted warily while the others nodded.

"In this situation just do this," Lise swiftly used her thumb to push Jack's thumb forcibly into his own fist.

The effect was instantaneous. Jack squealed like a wayward screamer firework and wrestled his hand away. "OW!"

Crow grinned. "That's pretty handy."

"Speak for yourself!" Jack whimpered.

"Dude, this wouldn't have happened if you had woken up on the right side of the bed and been a good partner," Yusei said quietly, folding his arms.

"Yeah, I know," Jack grumbled, massaging his aching thumb.

"You'll be better next time," Lise assured him.


	3. You No Uno?

From Shadows Chapter 3

"I'm sorry guys," Kalin grumped miserably, slumping down beside Jack on the couch. "The plan for our next gang duel is slow going."

"It'd go a lot faster if you'd let us help you," Yusei pointed out. He slipped on his duel disk, and activated it. The disk seamlessly connected both ends and slid into place beside his arm. "Besides, we're all ready to go," he added, smiling proudly at his work.

"I know. I just don't want to put that kind of pressure on you guys. It's hard enough dealing with all our duels as it is."

"Well, there's no use in sitting around. We could play a game," Lise suggested, setting aside her book.

"You're actually taking a break from reading? The last time we tried to get you to engage with us you nearly bit my head off!" Crow reflected, eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"My book is at a slow moment," Lise explained. She shot a momentary dark glance at the novel's cover, as if it were its fault for possessing a dull page inside it.

"We could play Uno?" Jack suggested.

"Yeah!" Lise agreed, sitting down at one of the chairs across from the couch. "Or we could play bullshit!"

"You suck at Bullshit, Lise," Yusei pointed out, sitting next to her. "You couldn't lie your way out of a paper bag, and you don't have a poker face."

"Oh shut up. That doesn't mean it isn't fun."

"Uno it is then," Kalin smiled, dropping their large Uno deck on the table between them. "Draw seven and then…is it the youngest or the oldest?"

"I thought it was whoever could play?"

"I vote oldest," Jack spoke up immediately.

"You're not oldest, dude," Crow patted Jack's shoulder. "Kalin is."

"Ah then I'm up."

"Wait, before we start, how is this going down?" Lise spoke up.

"Not this again," Jack groaned.

"Well we always argue like halfway through the game. Anyway, if someone can't play do we draw till we can play or do we just draw one card and move on?"

"Draw until you can play," Yusei said immediately, a small smirk playing across his lips.

"Damn dude, you're evil today," Kalin chuckled and flipped the top card of the deck over. "Blue zero, so I'll play a blue six."

"Thanks, Kalin," Yusei slid a red six onto the pile.

"Nice choice," Lise threw in a red eight.

Crow, a red seven.

Jack was the first victim of the infinity draw. He had ten new cards by the time he was able to play a red four. "Man, why did you have to go the hard way?" Jack whined at Yusei.

"I like a challenge," he shrugged.

"More like you wanted to watch everyone else's faces of agony."

"Something like that," Yusei said nonchalantly as Kalin played a reverse.

Jack groaned and searched his arsenal of cards. "There! Draw two, Crow!"

"So not cool!" Crow whined.

"I got your back," Lise tossed a red reverse in.

"Sweet! And this skip, Jack, is sweet revenge."

"But I have the most cards!" Jack whined.

"And I'm gonna win this game. What other obvious things do you want to point out?" Crow grinned.

"It's a bit early to declare a winner," Lise said.

"Spoken like a true loser," Kalin played a wild card. "Yellow."

"Okay now, my play," Lise consulted her cards.

"Actually Lise, it's Crow's turn."

"What? But I didn't play!"

Yusei cracked the smallest of smiles. "I skipped your turn."

Lise stared disbelievingly at him, the top card of the pile, then back at Yusei. There was a yellow skip there, plain as day. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You little shit."

Yusei's tiny smile became a grin.

"You're so going to pay for that. Mark my words, you motherfucker."

"We're still playing. Quit flirting you two," Jack scolded, slapping his reverse card down the moment Crow finished throwing down his yellow five.

"We weren't flirting!" Yusei and Lise insisted, both rather pink-faced though.

"Sure you weren't," Crow waggled his eyebrows. "Your turn, Lise."

"Now we're blue. Excellent choice, but this is better," she played a pick four wild card. "I pick red."

"God damn it," Yusei muttered, pulling four new cards from the deck. "I almost had Uno."

"Almost isn't good enough my friend," Kalin played a red zero.

Jack a red two, Crow a red nine, Lise another red five, then Yusei changed the color back to blue. Kalin, down to two cards, scowled heavily at being forced to draw five more until the sixth was a blue card. Jack reversed again though, so Kalin was forced to draw again! This time he got lucky and the first card he picked was blue. Yusei lazily played a blue seven. Lise changed the color to green with another seven.

"All right!" Crow cried jubilantly. "Uno!" He and Lise high-fived and he played a green nine.

"Finally, something I have way too many cards for," Jack sighed.

"The luck of the draw is nice to have," Kalin agreed.

"You guys suck," Yusei muttered, collecting eight new cards.

"What're we sucking?" Lise joked.

"The biggest thing in the room," Jack widened his legs arrogantly.

"Sorry Jack, but I wasn't referring to you tic tac," Lise said, casually drawing from the deck and adding a wild to the pile.

The air suddenly grew heavy with tension. Crow, Yusei and Kalin's eyes swiveled back and forth between Lise and Jack.

"Um…yellow," Lise decided. "And UNO!"

"Wait, hang on!" Jack pulled himself out of his shocked stupor. "Did you just-"

"Call your dick a tic tac? Yes I did. Oh I'm sorry, I forgot. Your tic tac and your raisins aren't worthy of any woman's mouth," she smirked widely. "Your turn, Crow."

"Th-That was really dirty," Jack said weakly. "That wasn't cute at all."

Lise leveled a death glare at him. "I don't give a fuck." A smile replaced her glare as she turned to Crow. "Still your turn, Crow."

"Well then, thanks for the yellow, Lise, because I play this!" Crow cried dramatically, resuming the game as if nothing had happened. "A wild draw four!"

"Damnit that means he wins!" Kalin groaned, throwing his hand to the table.

"Play again?" Yusei suggested quickly, noticing the grimace of anger on Jack's face directed to both Lise and Crow.

"I'll shuffle," Kalin volunteered, his good mood returned.

Under cover of the loud shuffle of the cards, Yusei held his fist out. "Nice tic tac burn."

Lise smiled warmly. "Thanks." She and Yusei fist bumped. "But I'll still kick your ass next round."

"Not if I kick yours first."

"Bring it on! I'll beat you all again!" Crow jumped in enthusiastically.

"This day actually turned out better than I thought it would," Kalin said, smiling softly to himself as he watched his friends bicker amicably over the cards shuffling.


	4. Novel Encounters

Lise walked straight into the hideout like a hurricane. She carried a book and a stormy look in her eyes.

Yusei jumped when she slammed the door behind her. He'd been alone for a while, considering Kalin, Jack, and Crow weren't supposed to show up for another hour. "Oh, uh, hi Lise."

"Good, you're here. I thought you might be to work on your duel disk." Lise pulled up a chair and smacked the book down on the table. The tools and pieces of Yusei's duel disk rattled from the force of the impact.

Yusei stared between her and the book, wondering if he should hide or something.

"Look," Lise sighed. "I just finished this shitty ass book. I need a human to complain to, and you are under no obligation to respond at all. Okay?"

"Oh um, uh, okay," Yusei stuttered. He was not expecting that in the slightest. "I guess I'll just listen then?"

"Thanks," Lise settled down and opened the book.

"Okay, so the book is called Eos and supposedly it's about this girl who disguises herself as a boy to gain this ultimate dragon power, right? That all sounds awesome, but once she has the power of the strongest dragon she thinks 'I must be more manly somehow to keep this power.'" Lise used her fingers as air quotes as she spoke.

"Which is bullshit, because the transgender woman, who is awesome, ends up discovering that in order for her to gain more power she has to accept her feminine side! That much I could've told her because, surprise, surprise, the ultimate dragon out of all 13 dragons, is a girl dragon!"

A smile broke out on Yusei's face. The more emotional Lise became about her book, the more expressive she was with her hands.

"And then the worst possible human being _ever_ finds out about the secret that the main character is a girl in the male dominated world, like he's a real pig. I wished I could reach into the book and rip him to pieces, but nope he just makes the book worse because there is SO much tension."

"But doesn't tension uh…build up the good part of the story?"

"Well yeah if there are comedic moments to break it up, but there is nothing funny in this book. Yeah, there are some nice, good parts, like Eos taking care of the people who were good to her in her miserable life, but you need comedy too! That was one of the drawbacks of C.S. Lewis too."

"Who?"

Lise gave him an incredulous look. "The dude who wrote the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Interesting book, but no comedy."

"Oh, right," Yusei said. He had heard of the book, and did basically know what happened, but hadn't actually read the book. "I think there's a movie about that one too."

Lise nodded and crossed her arms. "The movie wasn't too terrible. Of course, there were deviations, but there needed to be in my opinion." She shook her head. "Don't even get me started on the Harry Potter movies, but fun fact. C.S. Lewis put the lamp post in his book because a friend told him no one could ever write an interesting story with a lamp post in it."

Yusei actually chuckled at that. "Seriously?"

Lise smiled. "Yeah! That's like, the ultimate petty thing to do!

But back to Eos. I mean, I got so fed up that I closed the book halfway through and predicted the ending. Guess who was absolutely right?" Lise jabbed her thumb at herself. "This girl.

Then I find out, there's a fucking _sequel. _Because after the first book ending predictably with Eos being discovered, a huge battle, and the young country's emperor falling in love with her, of course we have to wait to find out what happens next!"

"Did you?" Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Lise admitted, glaring at the book on the table. "I was intrigued by the premise, which was cool, but poorly executed. Funnily enough, I predicted the entire second book, and then read a plot summary online. Right again."

"If you hated the book so much, why did you finish it?" Yusei set his tools down. He had completely lost focus on his work anyway.

Lise shrugged and rested her elbow on the table, her cheek in her hand. "I dunno. Maybe hoping I would be wrong? I don't exactly want to read the textbooks in the junk heaps, and I hate starting a new book."

"Oh," Yusei picked up a screwdriver and tapped it against the table as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Well thanks for listening to me rant about books. Kalin doesn't understand why I like to read, Jack just launches into weird stories of what he did six days ago, and Crow is…polite about saying no, I guess." Lise picked at the skin on the tips of her fingers. She too wasn't sure where to go from there.

"Yeah, sure," Yusei said. "Uh, why does Jack tell you about what he did six days ago?"

Lise uttered a choked sound of disgust. "Because it's his way of rubbing it in my face that he's only six days older than me, but older than me nonetheless." Her lip curled in distaste. "It's annoying."

"I think it's kinda funny. I didn't get why he did that to get out of stuff. Like, how to do you come up with 'when I was your age, I defeated an idiotic whelp.'? I had no clue why you were so mad I was so confused cuz I thought that 'we all did that,' the hell is he talking about?!" Yusei couldn't hold in his laugh anymore.

"Wha-How is that funny?!" Lise demanded. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" She was turning pink.

"It is!" Yusei insisted, pushing the words out through his mirth. "He acts like a grandpa and he's only six days older than you! And you could wipe the floor with him!"

Lise wasn't sure what emotion was building up inside her, but she knew it was making her face extremely warm. She plunked her forehead down onto the desk, and rolled her head to the side. _Yusei looks…cute when he laughs. I like his laugh. _


	5. Building

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Yusei asked when he walked in on the third day Lise was cooped up in Martha's hospital. The door closed behind him with a snap.

"Bored and stiff," Lise answered truthfully. She was splayed out amongst her various books and few electronics amidst the covers of her bed. "Martha helped me take a shower, which was humiliating but refreshing."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Lise sat up slowly, wincing.

"Do you need help?"

"No," Lise answered immediately.

Yusei waited awkwardly for Lise to get herself into a comfortable sitting position. Judging by the way she was going so slowly, she could have used some help. Yet he understood the desire to do something on her own. Lise especially hated getting help from others unless she couldn't see any other way.

"Okay," Lise let out a long, satisfied breath. Her back was against the wall, so she didn't have to support herself as much. "What's in the bag?"

"Here," Yusei unzipped the small bag he had brought and emptied several pieces of what had once been a machine on Lise's bed.

"You brought me a broken toaster?" Lise stared at the parts, her brow furrowed. "Thanks?"

"You told me you wanted to learn how to fix things too," Yusei sat down across from her in his usual chair.

"Right," Lise stared at all the parts, at a complete loss. Her eyes weren't sure what to focus on, much less what to start with.

"We can start with the regulator," Yusei said. He squinted up at the bed, the scattered parts in the sheets, and Lise unsure what to do. "Here," he said again. This time he hopped up onto the bed.

Lise let out a tiny squeak, not because they were on a bed together. The only thing keeping Yusei out of reach was the pile of stuff he had brought.

Yusei gathered all the pieces and folded them in the sheets as well as he could. He then scooted until his knee knocked gently against Lise's. He opened the bundle of pieces on his lap, and passed Lise one of the pieces.

Lise almost dropped it her hand was shaking so badly. She hoped her face wasn't as warm as it felt, or bright red.

"That's the regulator," Yusei pointed.

Lise frowned. "You mean this little knob on this tiny control panel? Weird. Then what's the other knob?"

"The cancel button."

Lise laughed a little bit. "It's like the Enterprise for mice." Her voice took on a squeaky tone as she pushed the tiny regulator. "Beam me up, Scotty."

Yusei stared at her, and smiled. A tiny chuckle escaped his lips. "I never thought about it that way."

Lise scratched at her bandages. They were in the itchy phase of recovery. _Stupid! _"That's about all I know on Star Trek."

"Same," Yusei said, nodding curtly.

He proceeded to hand Lise a screwdriver and several other pieces one by one. Yusei made sure to explain, slowly, what everything was, and what to do with it. As time went by, the toaster began to look more and more like a toaster.

"Hey," Lise said when the toaster was about halfway done. She kept her eyes carefully trained downwards. "Why do you keep coming back here every day?"

Yusei frowned. Lise's hands had stilled over the parts and tools. He tried to search her face for answers, but her hair had inconveniently fallen before her face like a blond curtain. "I dunno. Don't the others stop by too?"

"Yeah, to say hi. Not for the whole day."

"I guess, I figured I'd be pretty bored too if I had to recover here by myself." Yusei paused over his smaller pile of pieces in his lap. His gaze fell on the books and Lise's computer. She was certainly trying to entertain herself. "I guess I just like talking about real stuff every once in a while."

Lise looked over at Yusei, her eyebrows drawn close together. "Dueling isn't real talk?"

"No, no, it is," Yusei said. "I can talk to you and the guys about anything, I know that. You just seem…much more willing to talk about what you love."

"You mean my passions?" Lise said, smiling whilst she returned her gaze to putting the toaster together. That wasn't quite true. Even after eight years, she had almost never spoken about her mother.

"Yeah, exactly! I'm glad you trust me with your opinions on crappy books."

Lise burst out laughing at that one. She even punched Yusei in the shoulder, playfully, so it wouldn't hurt too much. "I've read the books that I do like to you!"

"Best reading experience I've ever had," Yusei joked, cracking a wide smile.

"Only because you weren't actually reading," Lise rolled her eyes, but her smile never left her face.

"I still know the entire story, cover to cover, of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Yusei insisted. "Quiz me. I swear I was paying attention this time."

"Hmm," Lise put the partially assembled toaster out of the way and adjusted herself. "Challenge accepted. Let's see… Where do the Dursleys live?"

"Number 4 Privet Drive," Yusei smirked.

Lise drummed her fingers against her knee. Her mind ran through a web of questions she could ask. Each more complicated than the last. "What's the spell Ron tries to use on his rat?"

"On the train?"

"Yep."

"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Lise had a hard time keeping a straight face on that one. "I'm sorry, it looked so weird hearing that come out of your mouth."

Yusei rolled his eyes. "Try harder. I told you I was paying attention."

"If you insist. Where did Harry meet Dobby?"

"Uh," Yusei's smirk faltered. He ran his tongue across his teeth. "No, I know this one! I swear!"

A mischievous grin started to spread across Lise's face. She could hardly contain herself as she watched Yusei wrack his brains.

Yusei bit the skin of his left thumb as he thought. "It's the Forbidden Forest?"

"Nope!" Lise practically exploded. She couldn't contain herself any longer. "Dobby's from the second book!"

"Hey, that's cheating!" Yusei protested. He reached for Lise's foot and started tickling her.

Lise doubled over. She could hardly breathe she was laughing so hard. Both from Yusei's tickling and her little lie. She forgot all about the pain of her wound.

"S-Stop," she finally choked out between giggles.

Yusei immediately stopped. "Clearly I need to read more of these books."

"We should probably finish the toaster first," Lise wiped her eyes. She'd laughed so hard she cried.

Yusei smiled to himself. He watched Lise pull the partially finished toaster back into her lap. He could feel something warm in his chest, but he didn't quite know what it was.

Martha rolled her eyes from behind the protection of the curtain shielding her from the two teenagers' gaze. _They'll figure it out eventually. _


	6. Smoke You Out

"Okay, this is the base," Kalin lowered his makeshift map.

The Enforcers looked around. Aside from the junk piles in every direction, there was nothing to see. Sure the area was clear and barren, but this was the spot Kalin had marked on his map. Wind rustled the dust, stirring the silence too.

Lise sneezed and rubbed her nose irritably. "I don't see a goddamn thing."

"Maybe I marked it wrong?" Kalin squinted at his map. He turned it in different orientations.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Jack shrugged and crossed his arms.

Crow squinted suspiciously at the trash heaps. "Maybe if we did more spy missions like I suggested."

"Not that again," Jack sighed. "We're not spies, or at least I'm not. I'd never want to hide this much of myself from the public."

Lise rolled her eyes and kicked around a few pebbles. She wasn't in the mood to jump in on Crow and Jack's argument. She walked up to Yusei, who had knelt in the sand. "Looking for something?"

"The way this place is cleared out reminds me of your training ground." Yusei picked the sand up and watched it fall between his fingers. "This place was deliberately cleared out."

"Yeah, but why? If Kalin's right, this is the weirdest base we've ever seen."

"Is that a manhole cover?" Yusei pointed to a weird, dark circle in the sand. He brushed the sand off his hands, and got up to investigate.

Lise blinked and then the ground broke. A chute opened up in Yusei's path, and he was gone before anyone could help.

"Yusei!" Lise looked around wildly.

"What happened?" Crow, Jack, and Kalin were suddenly defensive.

"The ground ate Yusei!"

"No!" Kalin threw his map away. "There are trap doors everywhere! I knew this was the right place! Their base must be underground!"

"So does that mean Yusei is trapped down there by himself?" Crow asked.

"Uh…" Kalin scratched his neck. "Yeah, I guess so. We'll have to come up with a plan to get him out. Lise, make your way back over here. Carefully."

"Okay…" Lise stepped out cautiously. Her first step was safe, as was her second.

Her third step, not so much. Lise screamed as a second trap door opened up beneath her feet. The light turned dark as her slide took her deeper into the temple.

The lighting increased slightly when she slid into the chamber where several trap doors let out.

Unfortunately Lise's lead right into Yusei. He was just brushing himself off too.

Lise squeaked as she collided with him, accidently pushing him face first into the dusty ground.

"Ow," Yusei grumbled.

"Sorry," Lise winced and rolled off his back. She put her hand to her abdomen. The last of her wounds hadn't quite healed, but she was pronounced fit to walk. Martha probably meant not to overexert herself, but if she could walk she could duel.

"Don't worry about it," Yusei said, pulling Lise to her feet after himself. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little sore," Lise said. "So where are we?" She brushed dust off of her arms.

"I was just trying to figure that out. If this is meant to be a trap, then shouldn't there be people here to, well, trap us?"

"There's only one door out. Maybe they're waiting out there for us? If there's more than two, that's bad odds."

"For them," Yusei cracked his knuckles. "Let's test your theory." He grasped the handle of the only door. "Ready?"

Lise nodded and stepped back out of the door's radius. "Ready." They'd done this a billion times. Nothing new.

Yusei quickly swung the door open, revealing two duelists who looked rather happy to have found prey.

"Hey guys," Lise waved chipperly, throwing in a salute. "How's it going?" She stepped back as her would be attackers stepped forward to intercept her.

They took one more step and Lise tapped two of her fingers to her leg.

Yusei swung the door back at the duelists. He hit the first one with the door, instantly knocking him out. The second one was hit in the face by his friend's body.

Lise ran up and kicked him in the back of the head with her sneaker. "What? I'm just making sure he's down."

"Just," Yusei waved his hands dismissively. "Forget it."

"Okay," Lise peered out the door. "Looks like there are two hallways. We can split up and-"

"No, we're not splitting up!"

Lise looked back at him in alarm.

Yusei thanked the dim lighting for hiding his red face. "I-It'll just make it harder to find us when we meet up with Kalin and the others."

"Okay, then I guess let's go reaching in the dark."

The two of them dragged the unconscious boys into the trap door room and shut the door behind them.

"Stay close," Yusei said, sticking by Lise's side in the darkness as they felt their way through the right path.

"I wish we could talk to the guys," Yusei finally said, breaking the silence. The constant darkness was unnerving him.

"It's just getting darker. Let's backtrack," Lise suggested. She turned around, found Yusei, and lead the way.

"Uh…"

"Wait," Lise stopped. "The live feed network on our duel disks!"

Yusei frowned. "What about it?"

"Use it to contact the guys!"

"What if someone overhears us?"

Lise blinked at him. "The likelihood of that is very low."

"Good point."

"You call, and I'll drive," Lise said. She grabbed his left hand and pulled him along.

Yusei got to work. In no time, a tiny green light blinked on and off on his duel disk. "Guys, can you hear me?"

"Yusei, is that you?" Kalin's quiet voice came through.

"Yes, it worked!" Lise cheered, then covered her mouth at her outburst. "Sorry," she whispered.

"And Lise," Kalin said. "Sorry to say this, but we found the exit, and I think that's it. Unless you can climb back up to those trap door chutes."

"Duck," Lise knelt and tugged Yusei down. She made sure he was hidden from view, and then peeked over the edge of the earth railing.

The pathway had lead out to a much larger cavern-like space below them. Tables and chairs were everywhere, as well as crowded with gang members. Light came from lanterns, candles, and any other light sources that had been scrounged up. Lise spotted the only exit, which looked like a broken garage door…at the far end of the cavern.

"Kalin's right," Lise whispered. "How do we get past all those guys?"

"Distraction?" Yusei suggested, shrugging.

"Which would be?"

"Uh…"

Kalin's voice came over the link again. "We can handle that part. In the chaos, you guys act like you belong there and walk out. We'll take care of the rest."

"So is there a signal or something?" Lise put her hand on her hip. This plan had way to many holes for her to be pleased with it.

"We've got a couple extra smoke bombs we can toss down the trap chutes you guys opened up."

"Okay, do you have enough to fill an entire cavern? Plus, are we still gonna try to duel our way through this gang?"

"Not today," Kalin said. "We didn't know what we were up against today. That was my bad. My intel was wrong. We'll come back in a few days."

"Got it. Start dropping the bombs immediately. We'll go back and open up the trap room so it flows in."

"Oh," Lise had an idea. "Send down a couple we can light down here. That way we can make the smoke thicker."

"Sending down lit bombs, not lit bombs, and a lighter. You got it. Over and out."

Yusei turned off the live feed network. "Guess we've got a plan now."

"Backtrack again?" Lise smiled.

"Don't move," a rough voice instructed them.

Yusei froze. "There's somebody behind me."

"Yep," Lise nodded.

The gang member had on a blue jacket, carried a flashlight, and as Lise watched, pulled out a knife. He held it backwards, with the knife above his head.

"Oh no!" Lise cried dramatically. "He's got a small knife! Our only weakness!" She pretended to cower in fear.

The boy grinned confidently, and advanced. Yusei looked bewildered, his eyes darting between Lise and the boy.

In a flash, Lise dived for the boy. She seized his right hand, pushed his legs out from under him, and drove him to the ground by his hand. She managed to wrestle the knife away from the boy, but not without getting a decent sized cut on her arm. Still, she twirled the knife expertly in her hand. "Only a noob attacks like that," she said.

"Fucking whore, give that back!" The boy kicked Lise in the stomach, right against her bandages.

"I don't think so," Yusei kicked the boy in the head with his boot. His fierce expression dropped when he saw Lise's hand pressed to her abdomen. "You okay? Sorry he hurt you. Taking the knife was super cool though. Here," he bent down and helped Lise to her feet.

Lise pulled her hand away from her stomach. Blood covered her hand. "We're on a time clock now."

"Sorry, I told Kalin we should've waited for you to fully heal. How bad is it?" He started walking, slowly, supporting Lise.

"I can manage. It's nowhere near as bad as the first time. I just need a quick patch job."

"In that case," Yusei let Lise sit down next to the door of the trap room gently. He opened the door, gathered their supplies, and ripped strips from one of the boys' t-shirts they had knocked out earlier. "Patch job." Yusei got to work wrapping the scraps around Lise's bleeding stomach.

They were quickly hidden by the blanket of smoke wafting out of the room.

"Thanks," Lise blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected him to help.

"Don't thank me yet," Yusei lit more smoke bombs and rolled them down the hallway. Both of them could hear the bombs bonking down the staircase they'd have to take on their way out. "We're still in this mess, aren't we?"

"Right," Lise slowly got to her feet. "Let's go then." She could hardly see in the smoke and darkness.

Yusei wrapped his arm around Lise's waist to give her a bit more support, and they started walking.

The entire base was in disarray. Fearing an attack, many people had leapt to their feet, duel disks drawn. There was no enemy to face as far as they could see, but the smoke made them suspicious. Someone was definitely there.

"You, investigate the trap room!" One boy pointed to another, directing them towards the stairs.

The boy passed right by Lise and Yusei, not even noticing them amidst all the smoke. As the smoke grew worse, the gang members had to cover the nose and mouths. Their watering eyes didn't make it any easier.

"I can't see," Yusei held up his arm in an attempt to shield his eyes. "Which way?"

Lise closed her eyes, knowing they wouldn't do her any good. She was hearing mostly shouted confusion, and whenever someone unwittingly ran into a chair or table. Then she heard it; the large door creaking ever so slightly, and the sound of fist on flesh. Kalin was true to his word. "Follow me," Lise said. She slipped out of Yusei's arm and tugged him behind her.

The pain made it difficult, but not impossible. She just kept walking towards the sound of her friends keeping the door open.

The constant barrage of noise suddenly ebbed.

Lise opened her eyes to find she had lead Yusei and herself out of the cavern. Crow and Jack had put the old, broken garage door back in place.

Kalin grinned at them. "Nice work guys, and girl, let's go home, and recalculate our approach."

"And get some new bandages," Lise laughed wryly.

"And food!" Crow suggested.

"And a nap," Jack flicked a strand of blond hair away from his face. "Today was long and no fun at all."

"Speak for yourself, man. I thought Lise and I were goners," Yusei said. He hadn't dropped Lise's hand. He chose, instead, to assist her in getting home.

"So," Lise grunted as they crossed a rather large trash pile. "What do we tell Martha this time?"

"Knife accident?" Yusei suggested, jokingly.

Lise gave him a look.

"Not funny, sorry. I couldn't resist."

"We could make that work," Crow said. "You were teaching us how to use certain weapons, and Jack got a little too excited."

"Perfect!" Kalin pointed approvingly at his friend.

"No, not perfect! Why do you always throw me under the bus?!" Jack protested grumpily. He crossed his arms and huffed loudly.

Crow wasn't listening. "But Lise would never take that shit lying down. She'd probably punch back."

"Can confirm. Accurate as fuck," Lise laughed.

"I'm not letting her punch me," Jack said immediately.

"I'll do it," Yusei offered.

"No way. I've pushed your face into the dirt today."

"That was an accident. Punch me."

"No."

"Make sure to do it in the face," Jack snickered. "We want this to be convincing."

"Shut up, Jack. Punch me."

"Fine," Lise rolled her eyes. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders. "I'm ready."

Yusei paused and stood still in the clearest place he could find. "Just don't hit my nose."

"Or knock him out. I'm not carrying him," Kalin added.

Lise took a deep breath. The pain was still going strong, but she wouldn't let that stop her from landing a good, solid punch. "Last chance to back out."

"Do it already!"

Next second, Lise had landed a blow to Yusei's cheek bones. His head snapped to the side. Lise lowered her fist, flexing the bruised fingers.

"Ow," Yusei said. He felt his cheek. "Yep, already starting to bruise."

"You know we're not going to fool Martha at all, right?"

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "She says after she's already punched me."

Lise turned bright pink.

"Worth a shot, my friends," Crow said. "Now enough screwing around. Let's get some food!"


	7. Much Needed Rest

Lise could barely keep her head up she was so tired. She had propped her elbow on the table in order to rest her head in her hands, but it wasn't helping her much. Why was Kalin always so long-winded? His plans always took forever to explain.

The boys indulged this habit of Kalin's; playing teacher. It was easier than arguing with him. He always challenged his opposition to a duel, and since nobody could beat him this proved a circular turn of events. The lesson plans for base infiltrations stayed.

Jack picked at his fingers, not even trying to pretend he was paying attention. He discovered a hang nail and fidgeted with it relentlessly. He pulled out a nail file and a small pair of scissors when his efforts proved to be fruitless. Jack could never be accused of being unkempt, that was for sure.

Crow leaned back in his chair, letting its slight creak drown out Kalin's words. He had yet to tip over, and the chair had yet to give out. Crow was determined to find out which would happen first. Preferably before the Enforcers defeated every other gang in Satellite.

Yusei was the only one at least trying to pay attention. Kalin's crudely drawn diagrams helped, sometimes. Only because he was a terrible artist, was it amusing to laugh at his attempts when Kalin's back was turned.

When he took a break from Kalin's ramblings, Yusei noticed Lise had fallen asleep sitting up. He nudged her, gently, with his elbow.

She stiffened, startled, and made a half shocked, half choking sound.

"Something wrong, Lise?" Kalin had heard her. He hated being interrupted.

"No, just…uh, got distracted for a second there," Lise smiled weakly.

Kalin rolled his eyes. He hated being interrupted, but it didn't stop him in the slightest.

"You okay?" Yusei whispered.

"Yeah, just…" Lise paused to let loose a colossal yawn. "Just tired."

"I noticed. Sleeping problems?"

"The worst." Lise scowled as a toenail landed on the table in front of her. She directed her glare towards Jack. "Do you have to do that right now?"

Jack had moved on to clippers. His nails, both toe and finger, were sailing across the room as he tore them off and tossed them away at random.

"Yeah dude, that's just nasty," Crow agreed.

"Well, I'm bored. Deal with it," Jack whispered back fiercely.

Lise threw her empty water bottle at him in retaliation. Jack simply knocked the bottle aside and went back to work. Crow scooted closer to Lise and Yusei, and further away from the stench of Jack's feet. Kalin barreled on as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Lise sat back in her seat, hoping the sensation would be similar to falling and would keep her awake. She dragged her fingers tiredly down her face.

Her dreams were getting weirder and weirder. Always shadows. They creeped and whispered and infected everything they touched with evil. That is, until purple fire consumed everything. That she had been able to handle once she got used to it. Then the dreams switched to her mother. Lise had never gotten used to the screaming.

For days she had awoke in a cold sweat, screaming her own head off. Martha had moved the other girl in Lise's room out so she could get some decent sleep, and room with someone she didn't think was possessed by some demon. Lise laughed to herself. "I'm possessed by something all right, but it's no demon. Unless dragons are demons, but I don't think demons try to preserve their hosts," she said under her breath.

So far the only thing that had worked was depriving herself of a normal sleep schedule so that she was too tired to dream. Her head merely hit the pillow and she was out for hours. It worked. No dreams. But her early morning risings, as ordered by Kalin, were brutal.

_I need more sleep and Kalin needs some sympathy…_ Lise thought before she drifted off.

Yusei felt the slight weight of Lise's head before he registered what it was. He stiffened slightly, wondering if he should push the weight away or not. His blue eyes gazed downwards, and he saw it was indeed Lise. She had conked out on his shoulder.

"Damn, she's out like a light," Crow said.

"Guess I bored her to sleep," Kalin sniffed. He crossed his arms indignantly. "Want me to wake her up?"

"No," Yusei waved his free hand dismissively at Kalin. "She's tired. It's not you. Let her sleep."

"Well, then I guess there's no point in continuing," Kalin sighed. "Everyone needs to be awake to hear the final stage."

"Thank you, Lise!" Crow cheered, pushing away from the table. His chair tipped past the point of no return. "Whoa!" Crow went sailing backwards, smashing into the ground with a loud clunk. "Ow…"

The noise hadn't disturbed Lise in the slightest.

"She really is out," Jack said. He held up large, black sharpies. "Wanna draw on her face?"

"Not unless you want a black eye that lasts longer than the sharpie will," Yusei warned his friend. "Give her a blanket, and grab me some tools wouldja? I can stay with her until she wakes up."

"You sure, mate?"

"Hey, our fearless leader canceled our usual briefing. That means we have the rest of the day off."

"Fine by me," Crow shrugged. He left, and quickly came back with a blanket for Lise along with tools and his broken duel disk for Yusei to tinker with.

He joined Jack and Kalin in a quiet game of sevens. The hideout was filled with only the sounds of Yusei's slow but steady work, and the shuffling of cards.

Later, after she woke up, Lise said she didn't have any dreams. However, for the first time in weeks she woke up warm and content.


	8. Eye for an Eye

"Ugh, why is everybody else always late?" Lise complained. She sat up side down on the Enforcers' ancient couch. The blood was already rushing to her head.

Yusei shrugged, bent over his table. He wasn't really listening. He was too engrossed in his work. "Traffic?"

Lise rolled her eyes. "Maybe if we needed to drive out here. I know the hideout is hidden, but come on."

A loud bang came from downstairs. At first neither Yusei or Lise found this unusual. Jack frequently banged his hips on the old-fashioned dining table the team had purposefully moved to block the majority of the doorway. It served as their early warning system.

Speaking of which, the swear that followed didn't sound anything like Jack.

Lise instantly righted herself. She ignored the rush of dizziness. She needed to be alert to face whoever was coming up the stairs.

Yusei had grabbed all the tools and duel disk parts immediately. He pulled up the loose floorboard he stashed everything under when he wasn't using it, and threw everything in. He replaced the board carefully. Unfortunately that was about all he could do at the moment. They didn't have any heavy furniture up there, besides the couch. Besides, that had taken all five team members to move.

"Now what?" Yusei asked. "Fire escape?"

"Are you done using that table?"

Yusei blinked at Lise. At a time like this, her question was absurd. "For now, yeah. Why?"

"I have a really stupid idea," Lise said, hoisting the small table over her head.

"I can see that. This isn't good. We're down three members and our gear is still busted. All I've got is running."

"We can do that right after-"

The door busted open, revealing four boys. They wore identical uniforms similar to the brown jackets Lise and Yusei wore as members of the Enforcers, but neither of them stayed too look very long.

"This!" Lise shouted, finishing her thought.

She hurled the table at the four boys and didn't look back to see how well her distraction went over. She yanked Yusei by the hand after her. Together they scrambled out the window and down the fire escape as fast as their legs could carry them.

"So what's the plan after this?" Yusei asked in between sprinting strides.

"Um, hide? I dunno," Lise admitted.

"We are so gonna die," Yusei grumbled. "What little I saw of them looked like Kota's gang."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Lise scowled. "If it's Kota, then he probably raided the hangout for revenge. We should split up."

"No way. If you're right, he'll be after you. I'm not leaving you alone with a murderous psycho."

"How touching."

"Shit."

Lise and Yusei skidded to a halt. Kota and the rest of his followers had cut them off. Surrounded by identically dressed gang members, their odds weren't good.

"Grab the girl, and leave the boy," Kota ordered. "Don't underestimate her." His one visible eye gleamed manically in the light of the setting sun. His other eye, the left, was hidden underneath a crimson eyepatch.

Yusei and Lise struggled and fought, but it didn't do them much good. They were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Six boys sat on Lise, pinning her arms behind her, and shoving her face into the dirt. When they were sure she could barely move, they tied her hands behind her back, and then her ankles together. The boys restraining Yusei kept him back from helping Lise, and were trying to tie him to something heavy so he couldn't follow them.

Yusei got lucky. Most of the attention was on Lise, so when two boys broke away from him to tie one end of a rope to a safe, Yusei broke free. He shoved one of the boys away from Lise. "Get off of her!"

"Cute," Kota swung his leg over Lise's head and sunk his knee into Yusei's stomach. "Sorry, hero, but we're not interested in you."

Yusei growled up at his attacker, clutching at his injured stomach. He came up with an uppercut that clipped Kota's jaw.

"Not bad, boy, not bad," Kota massaged his bruised jaw. "But I don't play nice."

Yusei responded with a crescent kick that spun into two quick jabs. Kota dodged the first two attacks, but stumbled backward when the second punch hit him. He yanked a piece of glass from the nearest junk pile and thrust at Yusei wildly. Yusei ducked Kota's swinging arm and side-kicked him in the stomach. Kota snatched Yusei's jacket as he fell backwards, yanking him down too. Yusei rolled out of the fall, but Kota used Yusei to get to his own feet, and sank his knee into Yusei's stomach. Kota followed up the attack with a right hook to Yusei's cheek. Yusei flung his jacket off before Kota's next punch despite his stinging cheek. He wrapped his jacket around Kota's arm, tightened his hold, and flung Kota across the junk yard. Yusei abandoned his jacket and aimed an axe kick at Kota's head. Kota rolled out of the way, but didn't dodge Yusei's roundhouse kick to his nose.

He stayed down after that.

Yusei turned to the boys still holding Lise. She had pulled herself up to her knees to watch. "Let her go now."

Lise gasped. "Behind you!"

Kota nailed Yusei with a solid uppercut the second he looked at him. Before Yusei could catch his balance, Kota side-kicked Yusei into a large wooden box that must've served as a makeshift coffin at one point. The wood splintered beneath Yusei's body, and his vision blurred.

"No, Yusei!" Lise struggled against the ropes, trying to get to him. Her awkward thrashing was like a fish out of water.

"Be quiet!" One of the boys kicked Lise in the shoulder and she fell silent.

"Well boy, looks like you've got some moves, but victory goes to the cheaters," Kota snickered. "We'll give you the bitch's eye when we're through with her."

That was the last thing Yusei heard before he blacked out.

/

"So Kota, shall we do it here?" A boy with a malicious grin drew a knife. He pressed it to the skin of Lise's face. Just above her left eyebrow. The very same eye and eyebrow Lise had scarred on Kota's face.

Lise sucked in a breath and stayed still. Based off of Kota's smirked. He enjoyed watching her panic. She waited and the knife pressed deeper. Lise didn't dare flinch for fear of encouraging them, even though she could feel blood beginning to trickle.

"No," Kota finally said. "She needs to pay for what she did to me." He squatted in front of Lise, waving his lackey off. He pulled back the red eyepatch, showing her the deadened, blind eye beneath it. "In front of everyone. Then we ship her off to our employer to reap our reward. I'm sure he won't mind if his package is a little damaged."

Lise swallowed thickly, allowing herself to breathe.

"Let's go," Kota said. He stood and lead the way towards wherever his massive gang had their hideout.

Two boys dragged Lise by the ropes binding her legs. She stared back at Yusei, hoping he was okay. But she had bigger things to worry about at the time.

Now she had time to think. She took a deep, slow breath, then nine more. She needed to be calm in order to think.

_Okay, Lise. Breathe. Think. You're being dragged to a place you and your friends don't know. A place where these people want to kill you!_

_No. Stop. Think. How can you help yourself? The only people who know you need help are you and Yusei. He's knocked out, but he'll be okay. I hope. He'll tell the others you need help, and they'll try to find you._

_How can I tell them where I'm going? Could I leave a trail of hair? No. I'd have to pull it one, one, and two I can't reach my head with my hands behind me like this. My shoulder is killing me from all this dragging, but even if it starts bleeding they'll never know if it's my blood or not._

_Wait, something distinctly mine…_

Lise looked up at the two boys still dragging her. They were focused on the task at hand, and everyone else was dutifully following Kota.

Watching them carefully, Lise opened her deck pocket clipped to her belt. She did it clumsily since her hands were tied and she couldn't see what she was doing. Still, she managed. Wordlessly, she clutched her cards in her sweating hands. She needed to lay them face up as she was dragged away. Otherwise, they could be anyone else's cards.

Leaving her cards laying around was risky enough as it was. Anyone could come by and steal them, erasing the trail, but Lise didn't have many options.

_Here goes._

Lise peaked over her shoulder at the cards' alignment. She slowly flipped her deck around so it was easier for her.

In the middle of the street, at the half-block mark, she would lay down a card. Lise hoped they were close enough to be noticed, but far away enough to not raise suspicion.

"Home sweet home," Kota finally announced at the mouth of a dilapidated half-demolished factory.

Before the broken glass and darkness in the doorway could swallow her, Lise laid down three cards.

A signal. This is the place.

Lise put what few cards were left back in her deck pocket.

Not a moment too soon.

She was dragged up a precarious array of scaffolding and thrown onto a slab of granite that was once a kitchen counter at the very end of the scaffolding lines. Pathways of thin pipes and slabs of wood stretched out from the tiny granite platform they all teetered on. Abandoned fraying ropes and electrical wires hung from the ceiling. Below, most of the rubble had been shoved to one corner directly beneath Lise. The rest of the warehouse was filled with couches, chairs, equipment for dueling, an old ping pong table, and regular tables. The only thing that didn't look old, damaged, or mismatched, was the state of the art computer resting on the cleanest table. There was a tiny kitchen too, but it was filthy and reeked of rotting food even all the way up there. There were windows on all four walls, but they were broken to a dangerous level and too high to reach from Lise's position. She truly was a prisoner.

Kota smiled acidly at Lise. "Time for me to make a call to my employer. Then we'll be taking your eye, ya know," he wiped some of the blood from Lise's eyebrow with his finger. "The same way you took mine."

"I take it you haven't heard the expression an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind?" Lise joked, laughing nervously.

"That's the idea. Let's go collect our prize, boys," Kota licked his fingers and walked away.

Lise shivered, her bones going cold. She watched the boys walk down the paths of fragile pipes and wood. She'd need to be ridiculously careful.

_Time for my escape. _

/

"Yusei?"

"Yusei, hey man, wake up."

Yusei awoke, groggily, to a pounding headache. His stomach felt bruised, and so did the back of his head. He rubbed the sizable bump, and sat up to the confused but concerned looks of his friends.

"Hey, you okay?" Crow asked. He offered Yusei a hand.

He took it, wobbling slightly.

"Yeah, and what're you doing all the way out here?" Kalin added. "You look like you got hit by a bus."

"Where's Lise?" Jack frowned.

Suddenly Yusei remembered. A chill went up his spine. "No, oh no, Lise!" He spun wildly, hoping she would magically pop out from behind a trash pile. "It was Kota! He took her! He took her right out from under me!" He went to Kalin, clutching at his friend's jacket. "We've gotta find her! Kota's going to kill her!"

"Calm down, Yusei," Kalin said, speaking in a calm voice himself. "We'll find her, I promise. We've gotta be smart about this though."

Jack put a hand on Yusei's shoulder. He released Kalin's jacket and took a deep breath. He wasn't calm yet, but he was trying.

"Come on, mate," Jack said. "There's gotta be a trail or a clue of some sort. Can you remember anything?"

Yusei closed his eyes. "Yeah, Lise and I were ambushed at the hideout. We ran out here, but there were too many of them. Before I blacked out, I remember them tying Lise's legs together."

Crow's eyes lit up. "They must have dragged her! Look!" he pointed to scuff marks resembling many shoes and a body haphazardly pulled afterwards through the dirt.

"Didn't I tell ya?" Jack clapped Yusei on the back, a large smile crossing his face.

The boys followed the trail at a brisk pace, their excitement growing. That is until the dirt paths of the junkyards gave way to the concrete and asphalt of the broken streets.

"Now what?" Yusei began pacing impatiently. They were wasting so much time. He didn't want to think about all the things Kota could be doing to Lise right that second.

"Hang on," Kalin said. He tapped his chin with his index finger. "We just need to think. Lise is smart. She'd think of something. We just have to look."

Yusei kept silent, but he increased his pacing distance. There wasn't any blood or scuff marks showing dragging or a sign of a fight. It was like she had just vanished.

"Anything?" Jack called from across the street.

"Nope," Crow shook his head.

"Look, is that a card?" Kalin pointed a short ways down the street. He ran over and knelt to pick up the cards. The others dashed over to Kalin. He was smiling. "Look familiar?"

"That's Flame Alchemist!" Yusei cried, smiling for the first time in hours. "She left us a trail! Let's go!"

Kalin handed Yusei Lise's card and lead the way. Every card the four of them found, Yusei pocketed. He even traded three of his won cards to get one back from a group of kids that were picking up Lise's synchro monster.

"Look!" Crow held up three cards. "There's more than one here. This must be the place!"

"All right," Yusei said, pocketing those cards too, and surveying the building with a grimace. "Let's storm the place."

"No, we don't want anyone getting hurt. Jack, Crow, and I will sneak in and come up with a plan. You stay here just in case Lise makes it out on her own. We'll meet back up in that alleyway in a half an hour." Kalin pointed a short ways down the block.

"You can't be serious," Yusei grimaced.

"I am," Kalin said firmly. "You're too wound up. Stay out here." He, Crow, and Jack walked inside before Yusei could argue.

"Damnit," Yusei kicked frustratedly at a rock and started circling the building.

/

Lise immediately pulled her legs through the loop of her tied hands. She began unraveling the ropes and scraping them against some of the broken glass to cut them off. When her hands were free, Lise undid the ropes around her ankles.

"Okay, now which path do I take?"

She couldn't go the way Kota had gone. She'd be spotted in seconds, and killed faster. That left crossing the dangerous rafters to the much more reachable windows.

Lise began slowly walking across the rafters of the only pathway that lead to the other side of the building. She'd spotted a ladder that lead to the rooftop, and her way out. She winced every time the wood creaked beneath her sneakers. Every step felt like it took years to complete. Sweat broke out on her forehead. Kota was video chatting with a shadowy figure below. He didn't seem too happy.

Suddenly Lise came across a large pipeway. It had been in shadows from across the room, so she hadn't been able to see it back there. There were no more wooden planks to step on, and there was no other way across. The worst part was that the support of the rafters below ended at the pipeline too. If Lise fell from the pipe, it was a long way down to her death.

"Okay, okay," Lise said to herself. "You can do this." She took her shoes and socks off, and tightened her belt. She pulled her hair back from her face, knotting it as best she could. She stood up, her shoes and socks clutched in her hands. One more breath and Lise steeled herself.

Lise stepped forward and raced ahead as fast as her legs could carry her. She forced herself to only have eyes for the ladder. The pipeline beneath her feet began to groan loudly in protest. She kept running, her fear and panic just making her run faster. The end of the pipe Lise had just abandoned broke away with a sickening, metal on metal whine. It swayed slightly beneath Lise's feet, throwing off her balance. She ran faster, her breath coming out in panicked whimpers as she ran to the side.

With one final heave, Lise threw herself against the ladder leading to the roof of the warehouse. Her limbs wrapped around the ladders rungs were shaking, but she was still alive. Her relief was short-lived.

Everyone in the warehouse had heard the pipeline break free. Its crushed end dangled limply from the wall like a dying, metal caterpillar.

"Uh oh," Lise whimpered.

Kota's expression was none other than pure rage. There was so much hatred contained in just his single eye. "Get her."

"Shit," Lise swore again. She yanked her shoes and socks back on.

Kota's gang was already swarming the stairway that lead to the roof. Lise climbed mindlessly upwards until the ladder gave way to the rooftop.

There were only two buildings on the warehouse's perimeter. One was too far away, but the other looked just close enough to jump to. That is, only if she had a running start. For someone who hated running, Lise sure was doing plenty of it that day.

"Stop," Kota ordered before Lise could even begin. He and his followers were blocking the stairs, a much safer alternative. Jumping truly was the only way out.

Lise saw this with cold realization that brought a lump to her throat.

"Our employer doesn't want you or us anymore," Kota snarled. His face was beat red. "Guess if I can't get my payday, I can at least get some good, old-fashioned revenge." He drew a switchblade with a serrated edge. "Don't worry," he smiled demonically. "I'll make it quick and painless."

"Yeah, I'll pass," Lise said. She took off running before she could lose her nerve. _Be brave and don't stop! Don't think! Just go! _

Someone snagged the end of Lise's jacket, making her stumble a little, but she kept going. The break in her momentum disturbed her pace, which Lise discovered much too late.

She launched herself off the roof. Instead of stumbling across to the other rooftop, Lise hit the edge of the other roof too low. Her stomach hit first, knocking the wind and most of her strength out of her. She scrambled for a foothold, or a handhold, anything to help her.

"No, no, no!" Lise screamed, the roof crumbling beneath her fingers. She slid downwards so that only her fingers were preventing her from falling. "Okay, whatever disembodied voice thing that lives inside me and makes me do really cool shit? Now would be a great time to help out." But the kind woman's voice remained silent, and unhelpful. Lise was on her own.

Lise's fingers began to shake from the pressure of holding up her entire body. They were also slick with sweat. She peeked downwards, but all she received was vertigo. There was absolutely nothing to cushion her fall. Lise wanted to cry. The jeering voices of Kota's gang and the whistling wind were her only comforts. Slim comforts.

With a scream that drowned out everyone's voices, Lise's strength finally gave out. The ground rushed up to meet her, and she mentally screamed for the dragon, or whatever possessed her to help. She would have given anything to be able to fly.

"Gotcha!"

Something soft hit Lise, and her eyes flew open in surprise. She threw her arms around whoever had his arms around her. At the moment, she didn't care who had her. All she knew was that he was landing in a baseball-style slide, and standing up. The two of them were okay, not dead, and totally unharmed.

Lise could scarcely believe it. She was alive!

"You okay?"

Lise looked up to find Yusei had caught her. His brow was slick with sweat and he was breathing heavily too.

"Yeah," she collapsed in relief, letting her arms relax as she tilted her head back. "Oh my god; I thought I was really gonna die! Thanks, I mean, nice catch! I could kiss you!"

Yusei turned pink at the thought, and directed his attention back towards Lise. "They don't seem too happy that you're still alive. Let's get you somewhere safer." He walked about half a block down the street, still carrying Lise. He stepped into the cover of the shadowy alleyway. The sun was seconds from going down, the perfect hideout. "This is where we were supposed to meet after a half hour. It won't be safe for long, but we're not going to stay for long."

"Sounds good, but uh, you can put me down now," Lise said. Her face felt warm.

"Oh, r-right, right," Yusei stammered, setting Lise on her feet. "Um, are you all right? They didn't do anything to you?"

"Just a small stabbing," Lise indicated the trickle of blood above her eyebrow.

"Why are you always covered in blood these days?"

"Probably because I'm not an agreeable or pleasant person," Lise joked.

A corner of Yusei's lips turned up. "We can get you real bandages at Martha's place. But since I don't have those, I do have these."

Lise's eyes widened, and she stared up at him, open-mouthed. "You found my cards!"

"We all did," Yusei was glad the alleyway was so dark. He didn't like how hot his face, and shirt collar suddenly felt. "It's how we found you. I'm just glad nobody stole them."

"Me too. I'd hate to go into a duel a few cards short of a deck."

"Lise!" Crow pulled her into a giant, bone-crushing bear hug the moment he saw her. "You're okay!"

"A couple scrapes and bruises, but yeah."

"Let's go get you patched up," Kalin said, leading the way back home. "We made sure Kota can't bother us for a while courtesy of a few explosives. They'll be digging their hideout out of some rubble for quite some time."

"Impressive," Lise nodded.

"He'll be back though," Yusei said. "He wants revenge and nothing is going to stop that psychopath."

"We'll be ready for him next time," Jack said. "Because we're going to take the fight to him."

"I think it's probably a smart idea for me to ask Martha about a crash course in bandaging," Yusei said. "Considering how often we get the crap beaten out of us. She could use a break."

"Amen to that," Lise agreed. "Better yet, let's just make a first aid kit too."

"Double amen," Yusei nodded.


	9. Taking a Break

Lise watched absentmindedly as Yusei rolled bandages around her hurt arm. He'd taken off his gloves to be more precise, and his long fingers brushed her arm every few seconds. Lise's arm was a little raw from being dragged on the ground, but Martha had instructed Lise's arm be bandaged to prevent an infection from spreading. Yusei had volunteered to change the bandage when it had started getting flimsy a week later.

Yusei finished with a light pat of the secured bandage. "There." He turned to put the bandages back in the first aid kit he'd prepared for just such an occasion. He hoped his face wasn't red, since it felt like it was going to burst into flames it was so warm. He'd tried to touch Lise as little as possible, but every little slip of his fingers on her skin had made his heart race.

"Thanks," she said, taking her arm back and flexing it experimentally. "One day I'm going to turn into a mummy and none of you will know the difference."

"Nah, you're too pretty to be a mummy," Yusei said without thinking.

Lise laughed, but her eyes were far from joking. "You think I'm pretty?"

Yusei's tongue was suddenly tying itself in knots. It was suddenly impossible to get a word out. "Uh…I um…"

She nudged Yusei's knee with her own. "You didn't turn out so bad-looking either."

"Yeah?"

Her light blue eyes were the same color as the sky, a much more natural color than his own deep blue eyes. Yusei found himself staring at them, even though she never looked directly into his eyes.

"Uh huh," Lise was saying. Yusei noticed the space between them was smaller, and her uninjured hand had landed on top of his. "The t-shirt and jeans look works on you."

"Not on you?" Yusei silently berated himself. A wizard with words he was not.

"I'm more than pretty," Lise said softly. Her brow furrowed slightly, but she still leaned closer.

"I know that," Yusei said, his gaze dropped from Lise's eyes to her lips. They were much closer than he'd thought, which was stupid. Of course her lips would be closer if her eyes were too. That was how faces worked. Yusei swallowed, trying to summon up more adjectives, but none came to his blank mind.

It occurred to him, when Lise was less than an inch away, that she was going to kiss him.

With a jolt, Yusei sat up. Papers, tools, his duel disk, and parts went flying. He was sweating as if that had been a nightmare, but had it? And why was he sleeping at the hideout?

"That must have been some dream," Crow commented. "You must have been super tired to have passed out during Kalin's lecture."

"How long was I out?" Yusei rubbed at the back of his head.

"About 45 minutes," Kalin sniffed indignantly, not looking up from his magazine.

"Sorry man. Too many late nights tinkering."

Kalin's anger dissolved. He could never stay mad at his friends for too long. "No worries, Yusei. You always make sure our discs are running perfectly at every duel."

Yusei smiled gratefully, and looked around. "Did Lise ever show up?"

"Nope," Jack said from the couch. He was playing solitaire by himself to pass the time.

"She wasn't exactly in a stellar mood when I saw her this morning," Crow remembered. He shrugged and shuffled his duel monsters deck. "Maybe she needed some time alone? She's been talking to Martha and Doctor Schmitt a lot lately."

"Well, if we're officially disbanded for the day," Yusei gathered up his things and hid them in their usual spot.

"You're not gonna go find her are you?"

"Yeah, so?"

Jack smirked over the deck he was reshuffling. "Careful there, mate. Someone might think you like her."

Yusei was glad he'd turned to leave at that moment because his face suddenly burned. Did he like Lise? His thoughts fell on the dream he'd just burst out of. She hadn't really acted like herself in his dream, but now that he thought about it, they had been sitting on clouds, which wasn't realistic at all. At the time he hadn't questioned it because, duh, dream. Now he wasn't sure what to make of it, especially why he'd woken up before Lise could kiss him.

He came upon Martha's cottage. An army of children was playing outside. A few of them raced up to Yusei to greet him, and for hugs.

"Good to see you all too," Yusei reciprocated with a smile. "Have any of you seen Lise?"

"She's probably on her sulking bench," a little girl with dirty blond hair spoke up. She crossed her arms.

"Uh, sulking bench?" Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"It's by the water, that way," the girl pointed. "She goes there when she's sad.

"Thanks, I think." Yusei brushed off the girl's strange comments, and walked until the trees surrounding Martha's home thinned and he could see the water.

There was a small lookout station attached to the street. Rust grew on the broken railing lining the lookout, but what remained was still fairly sturdy. You could just barely see the faint outlines of the city in the distance.

Lise sat on one of the crumbling benches. She was sketching, her headphones blaring music loudly. Her backpack lay half open on the ground beneath the bench, a few books spilling out.

Yusei took a deep breath and walked up to her. She didn't notice. The volume of her headphones was too loud.

"Hey," Yusei tapped hesitantly on Lise's shoulder.

She squealed and jumped a foot into the air. She whirled around to see who had disturbed her, and relaxed slightly. "Jesus fuck, Yusei, you scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry," Yusei sat down next to Lise. "We missed you at the Enforcers today."

"Oh," Lise's expression fell and she kicked some dirt around underneath her bench. "That. I didn't want to go today."

"Well yeah, I got that," Yusei said. "You okay?"

"Just cramping, mostly. Kalin isn't exactly sympathetic, so I figured I'd take a day for myself. Ya know?"

Yusei nodded. "Yeah? Sounds…um…uncomfortable."

"That's putting it mildly. Doctor Schmitt ran out of pain meds, and Satan's waterfall is trying to kill me," Lise joked.

Yusei chuckled, tiny stars twinkling in his eyes. "Then do you mind if I keep you company? What're you listening to?"

"Nope, not at all. Just be patient. I'm on a shorter fuse right now. A little bit of The Cab, and Fall Out Boy. Here," Lise extracted her right ear jack and held it out to Yusei.

He accepted and secured the ear jack in his own ear. After a few minutes of listening, Yusei broke the silence.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to like something so…"

"Dirty?" Lise smiled mischievously.

"Yeah, kinda," Yusei scratched at the back of his head. He wasn't sure what else to say. Why was it so awkward to talk to her?

Lise smiled to herself and tapped her pencil to the edge of her sketchbook. "Here, I'll teach you the lyrics." She continued tapping, keeping time with the beat.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Yusei said quickly. "Music isn't really my thing."

"It isn't mine either," Lise said. "But I love learning a new song. Ready?"

She made sure to look anywhere but at Yusei, and her voice joined the singer for the chorus;

_Tell me what's the point of doing this every night?_

_Whatcha giving me is nothing but a heart of stone lullaby_

_Wanna kill my dreams_

_Oh, this is the last time_

_Baby, make up your mind_

_Cuz I can't keep sleeping in your bed_

_If you keep messing with my head_

_Before I slip under your sheets_

_Can you give me something please?_

_I can't keep touching you like this_

_If it's just temporary bliss_

_Just temporary bliss_

"How do you do that?" Yusei shook his head.

"Lots of practice. I can't read music, so I just try to match the singer the best I can." She nudged Yusei's knee with hers. "How has building your own duel runner been coming?"

Yusei blinked at her, wide eyed. "You know about that?"

"I saw the blueprints you were making," Lise shrugged. "Do you want help with it? I still don't know much about machines, but I make a great gopher."

"Sure, I'd love help! Jack thinks I should make it white, and Crow thinks black is cool. I dunno. I'm leaning more towards Kalin's suggestion of blue. What do you think?"

"Hmmm," Lise tucked her pencil behind her ear. She leaned away from Yusei slightly, and her fingers raised in a snapshot position. She viewed Yusei through them as if she were trying to get a perfect shot for her upcoming movie.

Yusei's cheeks suddenly felt warm. He hadn't expected her to take it so seriously. He wasn't even sure if he _could_ manage to build a whole duel runner from the scrap heaps.

"Red," Lise finally said.

Yusei arched a single eyebrow. "Red is easily identifiable, and kinda flashy. I'm not as flashy as Jack."

"No," Lise said. Her blue eyes were a little cloudy, like the cumulus clouds marring the picturesque blue sky with their fluffiness. "Jack's style is much more out there. He should be the most uniquely flashy person out there. But people look at you for different reasons. You demand attention by letting your skills speak for yourself, by demanding they stand up and see what you're capable of. I think a nice crimson red suits you just fine."

Yusei swallowed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had Lise's full attention like this, and he didn't want it to end. A chill went down his spine, and yet it was weird Lise couldn't hear the banging and clanging his heart was doing to try to get out of his chest.

"You are kind of a show off sometimes," Lise added teasingly. She lightly punched Yusei's shoulder.

Yusei's eyes met Lise's and she quickly looked away. Half her hair obstructed her face.

"So you're thinking red…" Yusei mused aloud. He brushed the hair out of Lise's face and behind her ear to see her better. "Yeah, that color," he nodded, noticing Lise's red cheeks.

Lise laughed, making her face grow warmer. She covered her face with her hands. "Stop looking at it!"

"Oh no, you can't x-ray me and then back out when the tables turn," Yusei smiled devilishly and reached for Lise. He began tickling her mercilessly. "For one thing, I know you are extremely ticklish!"

"N-no!" Lise stuttered out in between giggles. Her sketchbook and pencil fell to the ground she was so absorbed in her mirth. "S-Stop!" She tried to make herself as small as possible, but it was hard when Yusei wasn't giving her a chance to breathe. "I'm gonna k-kick you!"

"Violence! That's my cue," Yusei joked. He put his hands up in surrender, backing off.

Lise sat up, blowing hair out of her mouth. She laughed genuinely, her smile brightening her whole face.

"Your smile is beautiful," Yusei murmured. "Uh, so is this." He reached for where Lise's sketchbook had fallen open. Lise had sketched a few of the kids Martha housed. "You're really good."

"Thanks," Lise said softly. She took her sketchbook back and hugged it to her chest.

Yusei scowled at the sky. "Looks like it's gonna rain. Let's go to Martha's to wait it out."

Lise shoved the butterflies in her stomach down. "Yeah, maybe she has some hot chocolate mix left over."

It was less than a minute after Lise and Yusei had packed up all her things that it started pouring. The two teenagers ran through the rain, splashing into puddles. Breathless, the two of them slammed Martha's front door behind them.

"I hope you two don't catch a cold," Martha eyed them scathingly. They were dripping on her clean hardwood floors. "Sit by the fire. I have extra blankets you can use, and neither of you gets hot chocolate until the other kids get some."

"Got it."

"Well, that was more of an adventure than I expected today," Lise joked. She held her hands out over Martha's ancient fireplace. Already she felt warmer with the help of the crackling fire.

"Me too," Yusei agreed. He sat next to Lise. Under the guise of warming up his back first, he could look at her face more.

Lise was too content and tired to care that Yusei was staring. Plus, she was happy with her mug of cocoa and blanket Martha brought to notice.

Finally, after almost an hour, Yusei spoke again. "You demand to be seen too."

"What?" Lise frowned at him.

"Sure, wearing jeans and t-shirts is comfortable, but you also want to be seen for more than your face. It's the same thing with your drawings. You want people to see who you really are, and what you really care about. Not just the fact that you're beautiful."

Lise's entire face turned scarlet. "Wh-where did you get all that?"

"It's been a while since I really looked at you. We've been a bit preoccupied," Yusei shrugged. "What with the Enforcers and all, and nearly dying a couple times."

"Did I hear nearly dying?" Martha walked in looking thunderous. She hated it when her kids put themselves needlessly in danger.

"No, he was just kidding," Lise said swiftly. "All duels feel like death-defying action when you're having fun."

"Riiiiight," Martha rolled her eyes. She hoisted a basket of laundry onto her hip. "Make yourselves comfortable down here as long as you like. I'm going to be doing some folding upstairs."

Lise picked at the skin on her fingers. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable being looked at so much. "What you said before, I dunno about beautiful, but I'd rather people know who I really am instead of what they expect. With the blond hair and blue eyes I'm supposed to be angelic or whatever, but people dislike their angels yelling 'fuck' whenever she feels like it."

"I've known you for a long time, and you're no angel, but you're a good friend."

"I'm tired," Lise nodded and stood up, wearing her blanket like a cape. "I'm gonna turn in early, so…see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Yusei nodded. He waited until he couldn't hear Lise's footsteps on the stairs to smack himself in the forehead. "Idiot! Way to go all deep and philosophical, weirdo. She probably thinks you're creepy as fuck now too for staring at her. Ugh," he groaned, laying down in front of the fire. "Why am I so bad at talking to her?"

Meanwhile Lise had run into her room. She closed the door behind her with a snap, and threw herself on the bed.

Lise spread out like a starfish, and grinned at the ceiling. Its lack of response didn't seem to have deterred her mood. She laughed a little to herself and whispered into her blanket. "He thinks I'm beautiful."


	10. Giggle Fest

"Hey guys," Crow suddenly said. He gestured for Kalin and Jack to join him at the broken walls of their hideout. "You gotta see this." He grinned from ear to ear.

"What is it?" Jack ran over and poked his head over the wall.

"Keep your head down!" Crow half whispered. "Don't make it look like you're looking, but look."

"No way," Kalin gasped. A smile was spreading across his face too.

Jack wrinkled his nose. His lip curled sourly and he turned away to go back to his lone game of solitaire.

"Oh my god, if they start dating?" Crow whispered.

"That would be hilarious," Kalin nodded fervently. "So much teasing."

"We're already going to tease him, but we're getting ahead of ourselves," Crow said, frowning. "Sh, they're almost here!"

He and Kalin ducked down to listen. Their ears ached from the effort of it.

"So I said; I'm sorry, but I'm too old for you. Then she was like; well, I'm four. How old are you?" Yusei was saying. He was talking animatedly, his hands assisting him. Crow and Kalin noticed his eyes were brighter than usual.

Lise was listening closely. She looked healthier than the last time she had attended a meeting, a bit rosier in her cheeks, much more well-rested. It helped that she was smiling for a change. "And you told her you were like, four times her age?" she guessed.

"Yeah," Yusei nodded. "I told her I'm 16, and Annie's face was so serious. I'm pretty sure she was doing the math, so I waited for a second. Then she looks up at me and goes; what about when you're 17?"

Lise burst into laughter. She covered her mouth to hide her snorts, but her body still rocked with them. "Like that would make a difference!"

She missed the giant, toothy grin spreading across Yusei's face. This was much better than yesterday. He'd actually gotten Lise to laugh. "Ladies first?" He gestured to the door to their hideout.

"Sure, sure," Lise said, wiping away a tear. "Oh my god, that's hilarious."

"They're so cute, I'm gonna die," Crow whined.

"Quick, quick, act natural!" Kalin whispered fiercely. "They're coming!" He and Crow threw themselves onto the couch and messed up Jack's solitaire game.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Act natural!" Crow stage whispered a second before Lise and Yusei walked in.

"Hey guys, whatcha doin?" Lise asked, tossing her backpack on the floor by the couch.

"You seem pretty chipper," Kalin noted innocently.

"Why so happy all of a sudden?" Crow chimed in. He and Kalin had to visibly make an effort not to look at each other, or risk bursting into laughter.

Lise shrugged. "I slept well. Are you guys playing something?"

"We could play Shanghai," Yusei suggested.

"Not today. I'm not in the mood. _Some _of us were trying to playing solitaire," Jack sniffed.

"Why don't we keep Lise's good mood going? Whoever can make her laugh the most wins?"

"I'm not sure I like this game," Lise frowned.

"Can we use tickling?" Yusei raised his hands.

"Touch me again and you lose your hands," Lise immediately threatened.

"Yes ma'am," Yusei backed away.

"Okay, no touching," Kalin instantly agreed. "Lise sit at the Yusei's work table. We'll take turns, and you have three total turns. You win if she laughs so hard she cries."

"Good luck," Lise shook her head as if asking herself why she hung out with a bunch of idiots, but she sat down anyway. "This is so stupid."

Crow sat down across from Lise first. He stared at her and with a straight face went "do you ever lay down for bed really sad, and that one tear leaks out and you're just like 'whoa body, you're sad, but you're not _that _sad.'"

Lise snickered and snorted a little at that one. "It's funny cuz it's true!"

"I'll take it!" Crow gave her a thumbs up.

Kalin sat down next. "Ready?" He grinned and held up his index finger of his left hand. "Follow my finger with your eyes."

"Okay…"

Kalin moved his finger in zig zags, and placed his right hand on the table in front of him. Lise's eyes darted after the finger like pinballs. He moved his finger in circles and Lise followed it. Then when he got tired of that, Kalin moved his finger back and forth. Eventually Lise's brow was mottled with confusion, but she diligently watched her friend's finger. She didn't notice she was ever so slightly leaning forward.

Then BAM! Kalin's right hand flew and bopped Lise upside the head.

She stared at him in utter surprise, and unexpectedly burst into giggles. "What the fuck was that?"

Kalin shrugged. "Just something I thought I'd try. Won't happen again though."

"Good," Lise snorted. "I'll hit you back next time."

"I thought we weren't allowed to touch her?" Yusei pointed out.

Kalin held up his hands. "I disqualify myself then. Crow, you're up."

Crow scrunched up his face, and stomped his foot like a petulant child. "But I'm too much of a boss ass bitch!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Lise laughed.

"I'm two for two! Step up!" Crow gave himself a high five.

"You gotta make room for us, dude," Yusei sat down next and blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Um…" His eyes suddenly glittered. "Okay, so you know how that new officer that's built like a fridge keeps calling me pretty boy?"

"Trudge? Yeah," Lise nodded, unsure where he was going with this.

"Well, like, why is that an insult? Call me a pretty boy," Yusei gestured to his chest with his hands. "Call me a pretty boy right now. I wanna be the prettiest boy you've ever seen!"

"The prettiest boy in town!" Lise chuckled, a snort mixed in.

"No! We're losing her!" Crow gasped dramatically.

"Jack, get in on this," Kalin tried to bring his friend over.

"No," Jack said simply.

"Is no an emotion? Because Jack feels it," Lise said.

"Good one," Yusei nodded in approval. He and Lise high fived.

"Crow and Kalin accidently shared a toothbrush for a year," Jack threw out there. He casually picked up a card and put it back down on the table.

"We did?"

"I was not aware of this," Kalin said with the straightest face he could muster.

"Ew," Lise curled her lip in disgust.

"Wrong direction!"

"I thought there was only _one_ direction?" Lise joked.

"No, just no," Kalin shook his head.

"I always look sleep deprived," Yusei said. "Is that hot?"

"I've been told no," Lise smiled, laughing a little bit.

"Let's just take a moment to appreciate bugs are small," Yusei blurted out next.

Lise just shook her head. "True, but not funny."

"Damnit. We're tapped out and she's not crying yet," Kalin crossed his arms. "Jack get over here. It's mandatory now!"

"No."

"Yes."

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Crow and Lise started chanting.

"Peer pressure, peer pressure," Yusei chanted quietly to Kalin's amusement.

"Fine, if it'll shut you up!" Jack threw his hand of cards bitterly across the floor. He got up to make his way over, and slipped on one of his fallen cards.

Jack fell to the floor spectacularly. His limbs dramatically splaying in every direction. He even slid a few feet.

Lise burst into uncontrollable laughter. Her entire body shook and she couldn't even hold herself up anymore. She fell out of her seat, absorbed in her mirth, she just kept laughing until tears fell.

Kalin walked over and raised Jack's fist like he was a wrestling champion. "The winner!"

Polite applause rang throughout the hideout. Lise joined in when she could breathe again.

"Thanks guys, that was really fun," Lise got up, and brushed herself off.

"Oh, don't thank us," Crow waggled his eyebrows at Yusei and Lise. "Yusei gave us the idea."

Yusei turned pink, and avoided Lise's eyes. Luckily, she was more focused on preparing for their duels that afternoon.

Kalin nudged Yusei with his elbow. "You seem to be getting pretty close to her these days. Anything…special going on?"

"No," Yusei frowned pointedly at Kalin. He shrugged, deliberately trying to play things off casually. "It just occurred to me I didn't really spend much time with her before the Enforcers. When we stopped being kids, we just sort of drifted. I missed talking to her."

"Nothing romantical at all?" Kalin actually sounded a little disappointed.

"No…" Yusei said slowly. He pulled at his collar, the skin around his neck suddenly felt hot. He remembered his dream yesterday, specifically the part when Lise had been about to kiss him. "Besides, she doesn't like me that way."

"You guys coming or what?" Lise slid her duel disk on her arm. She tested it gingerly, fearing it'd still be heavy. "It's so light now! Thanks, Yusei!" She smiled brightly.

"S-sure," Yusei stammered.

Kalin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, absolutely nothing there," he said sarcastically.

"Exactly," Yusei grunted purposefully. He glared at Kalin, looking him right in the eye.

"Exactly," Kalin agreed. "Hurry up slowpoke," he ordered, back in leader mode. "We have a duel gang to destroy."


	11. King of Games, Specifically Monopoly

"I'm so sorry I'm late! I was up late and then I slept through my alarm! And…Kalin isn't here yet either…" Yusei slowed down when he saw how his other friends were attempting to pass the time.

Jack and Crow were playing a sad game of sevens. Lise had busted out several board games they'd collected from junk piles. Based on the ridiculous number of dice she had and was stacking, she was trying to see how high she could stack them.

"Yep," Lise groaned, her lips making a popping sound on the 'p'. "He's always late."

"Well, we have four people now," Yusei said, sitting down on the couch next to Lise. "We could play a game to pass the time. Like monopoly?"

"Last time we played monopoly Crow and Jack almost destroyed each other," Lise raised an eyebrow at Yusei doubtfully.

"Actually, you threatened to choke Jack to death with his own esophagus if he bought all the railway stations," Yusei reminded her.

"Oh…" Lise scratched at the back of her head. "Oh yeah…"

"I'm down if you guys are," Crow got comfortable in a folding chair.

"As am I," Jack cracked his knuckles. "Prepare to lose."

"Eh, I never made it past the tenth dice anyway." Lise pulled their ancient monopoly game out and spread out the mat. "Let's play! I call the dog!"

"I'll be the shoe," Crow grabbed his marker and put it on Go.

"Why the shoe? It has no finesse."

Crow rolled his eyes. "Every time we play this game. I keep telling ya, man, a thimble has no finesse."

Jack sniffed and put his thimble down. "It requires delicacy."

"Whatever."

"Then I'll be the iron," Yusei said, picking one at random.

"Youngest goes first," Jack said with a smirk.

"You're only six days older than me," Lise grumped. She rolled the two dice. "And it's a five, so I will be buying the Reading Railroad."

"Careful, you don't want to get into another dispute with me about the railroads again, do you?" Jack waggled his eyebrows.

"That won't happen if you make an effort not to be an idiot," Lise narrowed her eyes at her friend as Yusei handed her the card.

"Good luck with that," Crow chuckled. "I got a ten! Which means I visit Jack's future home in jail!"

"Hey! I'm dumb, not a criminal!"

"You said it, not me!" Lise pointed at Jack with a grin.

"Oh shut up," Jack scowled and tossed his dice. "Cool! Snake eyes! Which means I get a Community Chest card. I've won a beauty contest, so bank," Jack wiggled his fingers at Yusei, the usual banker. "Pay me ten dollars if you please."

"Well we know you wouldn't win a brainiac contest," Yusei mumbled, handing over the ten.

"And since I rolled doubles, I'll be going again. Ah, a nine, and I will be purchasing St. Charles Place."

"Finally my move," Yusei snatched up the dice and tossed them. "Whattaya know? I also got doubles, but I got two sixes. The Electric Company, which I do not want. We're open for bidding."

"I'll pay at cost then," Lise said. "Fifty."

Crow slapped his hand dramatically on the table. His eyes narrowed, a challenge. "Fifty-one."

Lise laughed. "All yours, dude."

"Wait a minute," Jack said. "If Yusei's the banker, but he's auctioning the place off, does the money go to him or the bank?"

"Jack, we've been over this a billion times," Crow whined, his shoulders slumping. "It goes to Yusei because he's the one auctioning it since he landed there."

"I just wanted to clarify," Jack sniffed. He crossed his arms.

"Anyway, Crow owes me fifty-one dollars," Yusei said. He accepted the fake money with a mostly impassive face. The corner of his lips twitched for a half a second.

"My move again…" Lise rattled the dice around between her two hands.

/

"Hmmm," Jack's smirk was so wide he looked like the Cheshire cat. All he needed was a tail and a disappearing act. "Should I buy Reading Railroad or should I auction it?"

"Give it to me, you son of a bitch," Lise banged her fist on the table. "You don't even like reading!"

"Yeah, but I like torturing you. Huh, what to do?"

"If you auction it and she buys it, then she gets a monopoly," Crow said casually.

"Not helping!"

"That's the idea," Crow winked, reveling in Lise's look of loathing.

Jack tapped his chin. "Yusei, once I buy what I land on it's still my turn, right?"

"Yeah."

"How about this, Lise," Jack pointed to the Reading Railroad card Yusei had pulled out of the stack just in case. "I buy this, and trade it to you for States Avenue. A monopoly for a monopoly."

Lise's scowl deepened. Her leg started jiggling.

"I'll throw in a hundred bucks."

"Deal."

Jack and Lise shook hands. Then Jack remembered he still had to pay the bank what States Avenue actually cost.

/

"How the fuck do you always do this?" Crow gestured to the extent of the board.

The game had been going on for quite some time. Kalin had still yet to show, but the four didn't seem to mind. They were too engrossed in monopoly to care.

Yusei smiled. An unusually devilish smile for him, it exposed his eye teeth. "Whattaya mean?"

"You own like… three quarters of the board! Most of which have hotels on them!" Crow wailed. "I have to pray to like the monopoly god or something just to land on an island of property you don't own!"

Yusei shrugged. "Being quiet has its advantages. I buy whatever I land on, trade for the rest, and then buy houses and hotels. It's just math and business."

Lise frowned, wrinkling the skin between her brows into a "fire" kanji. "I hate math."

"Which is why I usually win. Mental man works wonders."

"If the universe wanted me to do mental math, it wouldn't have put calculators into phones," Lise countered.

"Exactly!" Jack pointed at Lise. "Why do my own math when the calculator can do it for me?"

"Let's hope you can do enough mental math to roll the dice," Yusei handed them to Lise. "Your turn."

"Fuck," Lise surveyed the board. "Okay, to avoid Yusei and the single monopoly Jack has, I need a four or… an eight."

"Actually a nine, four, or fourteen," Yusei said.

"Good luck," Crow said. He crossed his fingers just to be sure.

"I almost want to go to jail at this point cuz then I can't land on anything for at least three turns," Lise said. She jiggled the dice between her hands like they were tiny humans caught in a hurricane. She also did it for longer than was necessary. "Please send me to jail!" She rolled.

"I can't look." Lise covered her eyes. "Is it bad?"

The three heads of the boys converged over the dice.

"Oh…"

"Boy…"

"It's bad," Yusei smirked. "For you, not me. The piece of property you landed on? Yeah, you owe me over nine thousand dollars."

"Fuck," Lise groaned, sinking her head onto the table in defeat. "You know I don't have that kind of money, you little shit."

Yusei was undeterred by the swears directed at him. "That means you're bankrupt, but you can sell all your properties to me for a dollar."

"Go to monopoly hell," Lise grumbled pushing all her property cards over to Yusei. "Just once I wish you'd lose a game."

"Hey," Jack protested indignantly. "We're still in the game!"

Lise got up. She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, cuz you've totally got a winning record in monopoly."

"Jack, Alliance!" Crow held out his hand.

"Alliance," Jack agreed, solemnly shaking his friend's hand.

Yusei's devilish smile grew. "Yeah, cuz an alliance will help you," he said sarcastically.

"I give you two ten minutes before Yusei wins. I'll be painting if anyone wants to make that an official bet," Lise walked off.

/

Eight and a half minutes later both Jack and Crow were protesting in disgusted defeat. Like every other game of monopoly played by the Enforcers, Yusei had won handily.


	12. Gas

"Guys, check out what I found in the open market!" Kalin barreled into their hideout loudly. He was carrying several capsules with chemical labels on them.

"Um, a reject science project?" Yusei got up to take a better look. He bent down and examined the labels once Kalin had deposited them on the ground.

"No, well yeah, this is extra non-lethal lab junk dumped on the island. You should have seen the saleslady," Kalin explained. "She looked like she was _made _of wrinkles."

"Not helpful," Lise said. She crossed her arms, watching the tanks with a wary eye.

"Yeah," Crow agreed. "Should we really be messing with these things? They look dangerous."

"Well, in large doses they can be," Kalin admitted.

Jack shoved Crow and Lise out of his way. "Just tell us what the hell we're looking at already!"

"This tank has helium," Kalin pointed to the left tank. "And this tank has sulfur hexafluoride."

Crow, Lise, and Jack blinked. "Okay."

"What does that mean?"

Yusei stood up. "It means-"

"No, Yusei, don't tell them! You'll spoil it!" Kalin grinned evilly and produced several balloons. "The woman explained it to me and she even demonstrated on herself. You put the balloon on the nozzle, like so, and twist the knob so it fills with gas. Twist the knob back to close it and-"

"Congratulations you have a bag of gas," Lise smirked, unimpressed.

Kalin winked at her. "Not for long!" He put the balloon to his lips and breathed in.

Crow, Lise, and Jack immediately freaked.

"Kalin!"

"No!"

"What're you doing?!"

Yusei smirked and gestured to Kalin. "Relax guys, it's just helium."

"Hey guys! Greetings from munchkinland!" Kalin said in a ridiculous, squeaky, high-pitched voice.

Lise lost it. She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes. She had to hang onto the table she couldn't control herself.

"Dude, that's wicked!" Crow grinned, a sparkle in his eyes.

"What's the other one do?" Jack demanded.

"It's the opposite effect," Yusei informed them. "It's actually some really fun chemistry. Helium is lighter than air, so it makes your voice sound squeaky. Sulfur hexafluoride is heavier than air, so it makes your voice really low. The effects generally wear off very quickly."

"Oh, give that to Lise! I wanna see what she sounds like as a dude." Crow was dancing around like he had ants in his pants.

"Not too much," Lise said, accepting the fresh balloon from Kalin. "I don't wanna pass out." She put the balloon to her lips and breathed.

"So?"

"Crow," Lise said, smiling like she'd won an all expenses paid vacation. Her voice was so deep she sounded like a male super villain. "_I _am your father!"

Crow dissolved into giggles. "You sound so ridiculous!" he cried through his mirth.

Lise's smile grew. "You wanna piece of me?"

Kalin breathed in more helium. "We should start a chipmunks cover band!"

"Then we really would be a boy band!" Jack added, also in a helium induced voice.

"Not without a manager. I elect myself," Crow said, his voice super deep with the sulfur hexafluoride. He was trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.

Lise broke into her most hated Christmas song, All I Want is You, utilizing her new squeaky voice as an enhancer.

"No, stop!" Yusei pleaded. "My ears!"

The other boys joined in. Kalin and Jack still had helium voices, but Jack had a sulfur hexafluoride voice.

"All I want for Christmas is you! You…baby!"

Yusei put his fingers in his ears. "At least change songs!"

"You know the saying; if you can't beat em', join em'!" Kalin offered Yusei a balloon.

"Fine," Yusei shrugged and breathed down the gas.

The gang spent the rest of the afternoon unproductively using up all the gas.


End file.
